The Department of State’s May 2021 Visa Bulletin showed limited movement for the EB-5 category and previewed what may be the state of priority dates for the EB-5 category for the remainder of the fiscal year.

As in recent months, the EB-5 priority dates for Chart A Final Action Dates remained current for investors born in all countries except Vietnam and China. Chart A Final Action Dates represent the date immigrant visas are available. Although the final action cutoff date for Vietnam advanced by two months to Feb. 15, 2018, the final action cutoff date for China saw no movement and remained at Aug. 15, 2015, where it has been since September 2020.

Furthermore, according to Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State, the Chinese EB-5 category already has over 5,000 documentarily qualified applications that are current for final action, which is more than enough to meet the visa cap for the fiscal year. As such, the final action cutoff date for the EB-5 category for China may not see any significant advancement for the remainder of the 2021 fiscal year, which could also backlog this category in the 2022 fiscal year.

USCIS announced that applicants will need to use Chart A for filing adjustment of status applications. As such, Vietnam-born investors with priority dates earlier than Feb. 15, 2018, who are in the United States in valid visa status, are now able to file adjustment of status applications, and the National Visa Center will be able to initiate the immigrant visa process for those investors with the same priority dates who reside abroad. However, as a reminder, the scheduling of immigrant visa interviews and forwarding of files to the U.S. Consular Posts are subject to delays due to the ongoing operational reductions at consulates during the COVID-19 emergency.